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How to use tin snips

Updated: October 2026

The edge you wanted is a row of notches, or the sheet has bent and the blades have sprung. How to use tin snips comes down to a marked line, short bites that stop before the tips meet, and a stop when the metal is thicker than the tool claims. You already own the snips. This page is the stroke, not a ranking. Direction colours point to [left or right tin snips](/hub/diy-supplies/tin-snips/sub/tin-snips-left-or-right). Prices stay on the [tin snips comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/tin-snips). Peter F. drew the steps from UK tool guides and the review faults in this set, on 16 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The edge you wanted is a row of notches, or the sheet has bent and the blades have sprung.

Our top picks

STANLEY Stanley FatMax straight-cut snips

Best overall

STANLEY Stanley FatMax straight-cut snips
9.1/10about £13.76
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Amazon Basics Amazon Basics 26 cm aviation snips

Preis-Tipp

Amazon Basics Amazon Basics 26 cm aviation snips
8.4/10about £7.38
View offer
HURRICANE Hurricane 3-piece aviation snips

Alternative

HURRICANE Hurricane 3-piece aviation snips
7.8/10about £22.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Before the first bite
  2. 2.The stroke
  3. 3.Waste and curves
  4. 4.When the snips should stop

Before the first bite

Mark the line with a felt pen on the side you can see while you cut. A pencil line disappears once the sheet curls. Support the work so the offcut can lift. If you pinch a large sheet flat and cut through the middle, the snips have nowhere to go. Trim in from an edge instead. Wear eye protection. The burr and the small curl are what reach your face. HSE publication EIS16 is the UK note on gloves: avoid the edge first, and do not wear gloves where a machine can catch them. Do not treat a rubber or TPR grip as electrical insulation. Open the jaws wide and seat the sheet near the pivot, not on the tips. Amazon Basics states up to 18-gauge mild steel (1.2 mm) and up to 22-gauge stainless. A thicker sheet does not belong in the jaws.

The stroke

Cut in short bites. Open wide, close until you are about two-thirds of the way through, and open again before the tips snap shut on the line. Wonkee Donkee's straight-cut note says a full closure lets the tips dimple the edge, which is the notch you see afterwards. BuildWiz's two-thirds figure describes the same idea. It is not a measured standard. Keep the snips moving along the mark rather than twisting them to force a long cut in one squeeze. Hold the curling waste up off the finished line with your free hand so it does not steer the blades. Snips will not leave a guillotine edge. Expect a slight burr, then deburr if the edge will be handled. If the bite is notching, you are closing too far.
STANLEY Stanley FatMax straight-cut snips

Testsieger

STANLEY Stanley FatMax straight-cut snips
9.1/10about £13.76
View offer

Waste and curves

The offcut should curl away from the piece you are keeping. On a straight pair you hold that curl off the line yourself. On a left-cut or right-cut pair the jaw peels the waste to one side. Yellow, red, and green name that direction. They do not name the hand you write with. A gentle arc is sometimes possible with short bites. A duct elbow that turns both ways is not that job. Do not lengthen the handles with a pipe. If the sheet will not cut under normal pressure near the pivot, it is too thick or the edge is blunt. Mesh dulled some Amazon Basics edges. That is a reason to stop, not to lean harder.

When the snips should stop

Stop when the sheet bends or folds between the jaws instead of parting. Stainless is the usual surprise, because the mild-steel figure is not the stainless figure. A kinked stainless strip in the Amazon Basics reviews is the example. Cable, clothes-line wire, and mattress springs are the wrong material. Stop if a gap remains when you close the blades on air. A traditional snip can also lose its spring when the rivets loosen. A latch that will not catch, which some Hurricane buyers reported, is a storage fault. The jaws then ride open in a tool bag. Use a guillotine, a powered shear, or a sheet-metal shop when the run is long roofing or cladding, when the sheet is over the stated capacity, or when the blades are already sprung. The fork between compound and traditional pairs is on aviation snips versus tin snips.

Common questions

How do you cut a straight line?
Mark it with a felt pen, seat the sheet near the pivot, and take short bites that stop before the tips meet. Hold the curling waste off the line so it does not pull the blades off the mark. Wonkee Donkee Tools describes that sequence. A full closure on every bite leaves the regular notches. You will still have a burr. Snips do not replace a guillotine.
Why does the edge look notched?
The tips have dimpled the line at the end of each stroke. Opening wide and closing only part of the way, about two-thirds in the BuildWiz description, keeps the tips out of the sheet. A second pass can tidy a short edge if you do not close fully again. A cut started in the middle of a panel makes the same mark worse.
Which side is waste?
The side you are throwing away. On a straight pair you peel that curl off the kept piece with your free hand. On red or green aviation snips the jaw sends the waste left or right. A rough first cut on the waste side, leaving a few millimetres as BuildWiz suggests, is optional. It is their technique, not a legal allowance.
What if the sheet bends instead of cutting?
The piece is too thick, too hard, or the edge is blunt. Stainless often kinks where mild steel of a similar look would part, because the stainless limit on the listing is thinner. Stop, and do not add a pipe to the handles. If the metal is over the printed gauge, use a shear or a professional rather than another squeeze.
When should you stop and call a professional?
When the sheet is thicker than the stated capacity, when the run is long roofing or cladding, or when the blades have sprung and no longer meet. A short flashing offcut inside an 18-gauge mild-steel claim is still snips work if the tool is sharp. A two-metre facade panel is not. Tell the shop the metal and the thickness, and do not describe a sprung pair as merely stiff.

Related pages

Tin snips buying guide

Tin snips

Aviation snips vs tin snips: compound or traditional

Best tin snips: top pick and best value, with who to skip

Left or right tin snips: yellow, red, and green cuts

Sources

Public UK sources on cut direction, sheet gauge, sharp edges, gloves, and repair or replacement. Prices, stars, and review counts are the amazon.co.uk listing figures in this set. Prices move. There was no laboratory cut test.

  1. RS tin snips category (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  2. Stanley UK, FatMax 2-14-563 (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  3. MLC sheet metal gauge chart (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  4. V&F sheet metal gauge table (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  5. HSE EIS16, sharp edges (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  6. HSE glove selection (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  7. BuildWiz, tin snips (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 23 (retrieved 17 October 2026)